A pensioner who killed himself in a cemetery was facing trial over a catalogue of child sex charges, the Telegraph & Argus can reveal today.

Leslie Holdsworth’s body was discovered by a member of the public in the grounds of Bowling Cemetery, Bradford, only three weeks before he was due to stand trial at Bradford Crown Court.

The 72-year-old widower, of Parkway, West Bowling, had denied the allegations and indicated a wish to plead not guilty.

But he was found hanged in the same cemetery where his wife is buried earlier this month.

Police have ruled out any suspicious circumstances.

The father-of-four and grandfather was due to appear at Bradford Crown Court on Monday, October 23, to face a total of 33 historic sex charges involving children.

It is understood a total of four women made statements to police complaining that Holdsworth had molested them when they were children more than a decade ago. One alleged that she had been assaulted in Bowling Cemetery.

Mr Holdsworth was arrested during the course of a lengthy investigation by West Yorkshire Police into the allegations against him.

He had continued to protest his innocence at previous court appearances.

At Bradford Crown Court on October 23 there will now be a special hearing where Mr Holdsworth’s death certificate will be produced and the officer in charge of the case will confirm the charges related to him.

The formal indictments will then be marked as the defendant being deceased leaving them with no legal effect ending the prosecution’s case, said a spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service.

“It is different to offering no evidence or discontinuing the case,” he added.

An inquest into Mr Holdsworth’s death was opened and adjourned in Bradford on Friday, October 6, after police confirmed to the Coroner that their investigation had concluded that there was no third party involvement in his death.

A date for the full hearing has yet to be set.

Mr Holdsworth’s funeral took place on Wednesday at Scholemoor Cemetery, Bradford.